Joint Managing Director: African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM)
Vuyo Ntoi, AIIM
Vuyo was appointed Co-Managing Director of AIIM in August 2020.
Prior to moving into this role, Vuyo was the Co-Portfolio Manager of the R15-billion IDEAS Managed Fund, which primarily focuses on infrastructure investment and development assets in the SADC region.
Vuyo holds several directorships, including positions on the boards of some of AIIM’s portfolio companies. He is also a Trustee of the Africa Infrastructure Developers Association (AFiDA).
Vuyo holds degrees from UCT, Oxford University and IESE Business School. He has also completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and is and part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Co-Founder: Capitalworks Group
Darshan Daya, Co-Founder: Capitalworks Group
Darshan brings more than 2 decades of private equity industry experience across many economic cycles to bear, having worked in large cap buyout funds prior to co-founding Capitalworks in 2006. Through directly sourcing and executing multiple transactions as well as numerous engagements with both the local and international institutional investor community, Darshan has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities available to the venture and private equity industry in South Africa, which experience can be leveraged for the benefit of the greater industry through his participation on SAVCA board.
Managing Director: Verdant Capital
Edmund Higenbottam, Managing Director: Verdant Capital
Edmund is a veteran investment banker and private capital fund manager, with extensive experience across London, Johannesburg, Lagos and Dubai. Edmund’s banking career started in 2001, having worked at global investment banks and, from 2008 has worked in the Africa market. He designed the strategy for, raised and is responsible for the deployment of Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund, a USD 100 million fund investing in digitally enabled MSE-lenders and other inclusive financial institutions on a pan-African basis. He will share his unique experience coupled with his entrepreneurial mindset as well as an investor mindset as he is a founder of Verdant Capital.
Co-founder and CEO: Infinite Partners
Edward Pitsi, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Infinite Partners
Ed is Co-founder and CEO of Infinite Partners, following a spinout from Ethos Private Equity during 2022. He has led several investments for various funds including into Barron, Gammatek, Synerlytic, Crossfin and e4. Prior to his deal lead role, he was involved in numerous transactions within Ethos Fund V, VI and Tech Fund I; these include Universal Industries, AutoZone, Bevco and Atio.
He joined Ethos in 2011, prior to this he worked in the Leverage and Acquisition Finance team of Barclays Africa Group. Before this he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Ed is a CA(SA) and a member of South African Institute of Chartered Accountants; he holds a Masters in Financial Management (University of Pretoria) and an EMBA (Instead).
Founding Partner & MD: Third Way Investment Partners
Fulu Makwetla, Thid Way Investment Partners
Fulufhelo (Fulu) Makwetla is an investment professional and entrepreneur with a passion for developmental investments, diversity advancement and inclusivity. She is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Third Way Investment Partners, a Non-executive Director of All Weather Capital, Fundi Capital, and serves on the investment committee of RH Bophelo.
She was previously the Investment Manager of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) and represented GEPF on several advisory boards of Private Equity Funds on the African continent.
Prior to joining GEPF, she was an Executive and Senior Investment Consultant at RisCura, and an employer elected trustee of the RisCura Provident Fund. She also worked for RMB Asset Management, having started her career at Liberty Life and has over 17 years industry experience.
She is a member the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals (ABSIP). In pursuing her passion of diversity advancement and inclusion, especially that of women, she is intentional in her mentorship of young women both through the ABSIP Women in Focus, a sub-committee of ABSIP, as well as in her personal capacity.
Fulu holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Econometrics (a double major in Economics and Statistics) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) in Economics from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She has completed several short programs in Private Equity at GIBS and Investment Banking Institute. She has also completed programs at the World Bank in Washington DC, in Private Equity, Strategic Asset Allocation, Manager selection, and Master Custody.
Co-founder & Managing Partner: AIH Capital
Jesmane Boggenpoel, Co-founder & Managing Partner: AIH Capital
Jesmane Boggenpoel is a senior business executive with over 15 years of expertise in investments. She co-founded and is the Managing partner of AIH Capital, a wholly women-owned private equity fund in South Africa. Where she oversees all the aspects of the fund, including ESG management. With over 14 years on corporate boards, Jesmane is well versed in finance, corporate risk, and governance. She was formerly the Chairperson of ETGIH, a subsidiary of ETG and the largest African fertiliser distributor based out of Dubai. She was formerly Chairperson of Sybrin, a fintech company servicing blue chip financial services clients across 17 countries.
She currently serves on the boards of JSE-listed companies Spur and Murray & Roberts, as well as ETG, an agri-conglomerate operating in 45 countiries. Jesmane’s career began at KPMG, followed by roles in corporate finance at Anglo American and the World Economic Forum. She holds degrees in Commerce and Accounting from the University of Witwatersrand, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard, and is a Chartered Accountant.
Recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2013 and a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader in 2022, Jesmane is also an author and public speaker on investment, leadership, ESG, and DEI.
CEO: Ascension Capital Partners
Kabelo Moja, Ascension Capital Partners
Kabelo is a qualified and admitted attorney of the High Court of the Republic of South Africa. His qualifications include an LLB and Postgraduate Diploma in Tax from the University of the Witwatersrand and a LLM from the University of Pretoria.
Kabelo worked at the Public Investment Corporation SOC Limited as a senior legal advisor and periodically held an acting executive head of legal role, National Treasury of South Africa as a legal commercial director, Absa Capital and at Hogan Lovells South Africa.
He is currently the managing director with Ascension Capital Partners (Pty) Ltd, a boutique fund management and advisory business that also specializes in structuring and capital raising for various unlisted investments. He has extensive experience in corporate restructuring, mergers, corporate finance, litigation, a host of debt, equity and mezzanine funding and private equity across a diverse range of industries.
Recent projects that Kabelo has been involved in include an equity investment into various assets including a diversified agri business that exports wool and mohair products, a leading global ICT technology company, a security equipment manufacturing and communications company and a property development and management company that develops and manages mixed use developments in CBD’s.
Kabelo also forms part of the Ascension Investment Committee.
Principal: Agile Capital
Liz Kolobe, Principal: Agile Capital
Liz has over 13 years’ experience in private equity, advising and executing transactions. She is a principal at Agile Capital, representing the firm on various boards across various sectors including water, mining services,media, financial services, environmental management, medical, property, soft services and energy. Liz has worked in both traditional private equity funds funded by pension funds, as well as the captive fund space, which will add invaluable insights to the team. She is passionate about transformation and would like to make a personal and professional contribution to meaningful transformation of the industry.
Partner: Resolve Fund Manager
Mbongeni Madonsela CA (SA), Partner: Resolve Fund Manager (Pty) Ltd
Mbongeni is a founding Partner at Resolve SA. Mbongeni has over 16 years of private equity experience which. Successful tenures at Brait and RMB Ventures. He has worked on and concluded transactions across various sectors including but Not limited to food, packaging, technology, retail and media.
Mbongeni is a CA(SA) and a member of South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Managing Partner: Norrsken22
Natalie Kolbe, Managing Partner: Norrsken22
Natalie is the Managing Partner of Norrsken22, responsible for the overall management of the Fund, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Natalie brings a wealth of private equity and growth investing experience to Norrsken22, having spent 18 years at Actis – one of the leading private equity firms focused on the Emerging Markets. At Actis, Natalie was Global Head of Private Equity, responsible for the day-to-day management of the global PE business, spanning 8 funds across Africa, Latin America, India, China and SE Asia, with circa USD $2.5 billion in assets under management. Natalie was also part of the team that assessed and onboarded the Abraaj Africa, Middle East and South East Asia PE funds and team ($2.5bn portfolio). She is an experienced board member having held board seats on multiple companies across Africa and Europe and has been instrumental in numerous restructurings and successful exits. Natalie instilled and operated under world-class governance and ESG standards at Actis and brings this depth of knowledge with her to Norrsken22.
Natalie holds a BComm from the University of Witwatersrand, an MBA (Cum Laude) from Wits Business School and is a CFA Charterholder.
Representative: Horizon Equity Partners
Nicola Gubb, Representative: Horizon Equity Partners
Nicola has over 25 years of investment and corporate finance experience with a particular niche in BBBEE and gender lens investing coupled with 17 years of board experience in Financial Services, Media, Wholesale Fuel Supply and Private Education. In her previous role as CIO of WDB Investment Holdings, Nicola was responsible for investee strategic value-add and post deal maintenance of a portfolio with a NAV of ZAR 5 billion, where she built and managed a team of (all women) investment professionals. She is passionate about the Private Equity sector and its transformative potential and would like to add value at a strategic level on the SAVCA board.
Client Director: Old Mutual Alternative Investments
Ria Papier, Client Director: Old Mutual Alternative Investments
Ria is the Client Director at Old Mutual Private Equity (OMPE), responsible for leading fund raising and investor relations functions. Prior to this, Ria was in the Client Solutions team at Standard Bank Investment Banking. Her investment banking career spans 19 years, where she has worked across diverse sectors, including Industrial and Consumer, in the origination and execution of equity and debt transactions, mergers and acquisitions and IPOs. Armed with a very good understanding of investors’ views, Ria is passionate about educating the broader financial services industry on this valuable asset class that not only has the ability to generate solid returns but also the impact to improve the lives of many South Africans.